HC Wainwright Reaffirms Buy Rating for Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA)

HC Wainwright reissued their buy rating on shares of Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA - Free Report) in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. HC Wainwright currently has a $7.50 price target on the biopharmaceutical company's stock.

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Akebia Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th.

Akebia Therapeutics Trading Up 6.3 %

AKBA traded up $0.15 during trading on Friday, hitting $2.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,972,795 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,024,009. Akebia Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $0.80 and a twelve month high of $2.58. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $2.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $556.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.09 and a beta of 0.94.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $46.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.36 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Remove Ads

Insider Transactions at Akebia Therapeutics

In other news, CEO John P. Butler sold 144,250 shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total value of $302,925.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,604,330 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,469,093. The trade was a 5.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Steven Keith Burke sold 50,506 shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total value of $106,062.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 816,234 shares in the company, valued at $1,714,091.40. This represents a 5.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 280,579 shares of company stock valued at $589,216 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Akebia Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. PDS Planning Inc acquired a new position in Akebia Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Mariner LLC acquired a new position in Akebia Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new position in Akebia Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Akebia Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.92% of the company's stock.

About Akebia Therapeutics

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapeutics for patients with kidney diseases. The company's lead product investigational product candidate is Vafseo (vadadustat), an oral hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase, which is in Phase III development for the treatment of anemia due to chronic kidney disease (CKD) in dialysis-dependent and non-dialysis dependent patients.